The draw appears somewhat lopsided, with the four richest clubs left in the competition all on the same side, while Italian clubs find themselves in the other half.Ī year ago no Serie A side made it beyond the last 16, but now the runaway Italian league leaders Napoli will face the team who won the domestic title last season. That is the challenge and we accept it." Italian accent "To win the Champions League you need to beat the best teams. ![]() "It will be a reunion with Pep Guardiola and Erling Haaland, old acquaintances from the Bundesliga," said Bayern CEO Oliver Kahn. Guardiola left Bayern to join City in 2016, but is still chasing a first Champions League title as a coach since winning it with Barcelona for the second time in 2011. It will be the first encounter between the clubs since the 2014/15 group stage, when Guardiola was in charge of the German giants. The teams also met in the semi-finals in 2021, when the Stamford Bridge side won on their way to lifting the trophy for the second time.Ĭity's ongoing bid to win the Champions League for the first time faces a major obstacle in a Bayern side who knocked out Paris Saint-Germain in the last round. Real's path to what would be a 15th European Cup is starting to look remarkably like last season, when they beat Chelsea and City before defeating Liverpool in the final.Ĭarlo Ancelotti's team are fresh from beating Liverpool in the last 16, and will now hope for a repeat of a year ago when they eliminated Chelsea 5-4 on aggregate in the quarter-finals, with Karim Benzema scoring a hat-trick in the first leg in London. That also increases the chances of seeing an Italian team reach the final for the first time since Juventus in 2017, as Inter will play either Milan or Napoli in the last four should the Nerazzurri beat Benfica. The winners of Real's tie against Chelsea will go on to face either City or Bayern in the semi-finals, throwing open the possibility of an all-English last-four tie. ![]() Serie A leaders Napoli take on AC Milan in an all-Italian showdown and Inter Milan face Portuguese league leaders Benfica.
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